Morgan at a glance

Scholarship: Morgan received the John Seita Scholarship from Western Michigan University, which pays for undergraduate tuition for students who’ve been in foster care through their teenage years. Books, housing, and living expenses are not included, but there are other programs through state financial aid that may help with the costs. Learn more about the program at http://wmich.edu/fosteringsuccess/About/scholarship.html

Jobs: McDonald’s, Sonic, Penn Station

Graduating Novi High School senior Makaya Morgan has bounced through the foster care system most of her life.

The 18-year-old lost her father to a gunshot when she was four years old, and later lost her mother, who is now homeless, to schizophrenia. She’s been in six different foster care homes and three high schools in the past four years, but has come out of the experience with a full ride to Western Michigan University.

“It was kind of difficult learning things on my own, but after a while, you get used to it,” said Morgan, who was recently awarded the John Seita Scholarship. “I know that statistically, not many foster children don’t graduate from high school or go on to college ... (but) I’ve learned a lot from different families and different cultures, and I don’t want to use being in the foster system as an excuse to not succeed in life.”

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Morgan came to Novi High just this school year, having come from Walled Lake Western the year before and Mumford High School before that. She has four sisters who are all separated in different homes, but she still keeps in close contact with them.

She was a member of the National Honor Society, performed with Novi’s varsity color guard and has had many other opportunities her senior year — thanks to a chance encounter in the girl’s locker room, said her now-guardian and legal provider, Felicia Gibson.

“She met my daughter Carla in the girl’s locker room after classes, started talking and became friends,” said Gibson. “One day, (Carla) said, ‘Mom, Makaya needs a foster home. Can she come live with us?’”

Gibson told her daughter that it wasn’t that easy, but through background checks and paperwork, Gibson was approved. Morgan, who is technically emancipated, moved in with the Gibsons Dec. 27.

The graduate’s life hasn’t necessarily been simple. She’s worked multiple jobs — recently at McDonald’s and the Penn Station East Coast Subs Shop on Novi Road — and has to pay for most of what she wants to do.

Her plan to tackle college life will be similar to how she’s handled high school, she said — hard work.

“I want to do the work-study program at Western, and I was already up there the other day looking for jobs,” she said, noting she still has to pay room and board.

Morgan plans to study in the women’s health care field, and wants to either become an obstetrician or a gynecologist. But her goals after college are the most dear to her.

“My motivation is, well, my mom right now is homeless ... my goal is to find her after I graduate and get the family back together,” Morgan said.

Her Novi High School counselor, Amy Kilgore, said she asks herself every day how Morgan has risen above all that she’s experienced.

“I just don’t know ... what she’s been through could crush another person,” Kilgore said. “She’s a bright girl with an incredible drive ... she trusts people and knows how to get the help she needs, even though you would think she doesn’t trust people.

“I think that she sees the best in people — sees her mom not as someone who wouldn’t take care of her, but as someone who wasn’t able to care for herself ... she has an incredible heart that I wish all kids had.”

About the Author

John Turk covers the police beat and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for The Oakland Press. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University. Reach the author at john.turk@oakpress.com
or follow John on Twitter: @jrturk.